Humber Strike: Students rally in downtown Toronto

Oct 19, 2017 | Campus News

Students rally in support of teachers striking in downtown Toronto.

By: Tyson Lautenschlager and Omar Jaber

While the turn out wasn’t as big as they were expecting, Centennial College students held a rally in downtown Toronto in a show of solidarity for college faculty on strike.

James Fauvelle, a social service student at the college, organized the rally.

“I’m tired of being exploited and something needs to be done. That being said we’re out here to address the faculty’s point of view. People need to know that they’re humans as well,” he said. “It’s not fair that they’re marking from 20-40 hours a week and not getting paid for it. When 35 per cent of faculty are part-time we are not getting the best education possible. It’s a matter of addressing the bigger issues, the policies in place that we need to start tearing down and rebuilding.

“Academia is supposed to be the wheels of society and if you can exploit academia, what is left for the people living below the poverty line?”

Paula Monahan, a mature student in Humber College’s paralegal program, said the condition part-time faculty teach in is “ludicrous.”

“Our professors have to apply every single term just to know they’re going to have a job,” she said.